2/28 Tommy PMPS 326,+2 330

2/27

Good morning all and breakfast and yet I still have a migraine trying to work it's way into my head, but I shall not let it win. :evil:
I just got off the phone with valleyvet.com and have been assured that my order for the canine adequan is being processed and will be shipped out today. It should be here no later than the beginning to middle of next week. Do all of you use the same needles for the adequan as you do for the insulin? Do you also give the shot in the same places as you do the insulin? I give Tommy his insulin in his sides both front and back and was just wondering what has worked best for you and your kitties. I feed at 6am, 8am, 6pm and 8pm. Would it be ok to give the adequan shot when I give the insulin or should I offset and give it at the 8am/pm time?
Patty has been kind enough to give me her insight and advice and I just wanted more input from other kitties as well.
Is the initial loading dose the same no matter what, one injection twice a week for 4 weeks then once a week for 4 weeks then once every 2 weeks for 4 weeks then after that Tommy will let me know right? I see that some of you give it every 3 weeks but I would presume that again it's a ECID scenario depending on how bad the arthritis is.
Should I go ahead and continue with the Bupe until he's had at least the first month of adequan injections in his system? I don't want to overload him with too much. @-)
Oh yeah one more thing........... 5-8 inches of that lovely white stuff headed our way Saturday and into Sunday evening!! Gooooody ohmygod_smile

I hope you all have wonderful Friday, at least the sun is shining !!!

Re: 2/28 Tommy AMPS 199 1.R, +2 200 Adequan questions please

I'm glad you're able to get some Adequan!

My GA Civvie, Mario was on it, so I don't have the insulin/Adequan combo experience, but with him, we did shoot in the scruff. We did not use insulin needles...we used a 1cc/mL 25 gauge x 5/8" needle. They are much bigger than an insulin needle and felt like a harpoon in comparison, but since we were injecting so much more Adequan than insulin, the bigger needle allowed is to complete the injection more quickly than an insulin needle would. But, I do know there are others who do use an insulin needle.

That is the loading schedule we followed with Mario; however, he never made it to the "once every 4 week" stage...I could tell by about 3 weeks that he needed a boost, so we did shoot when we could tell he was starting to stiffen up - usually that was about every 3 weeks. He did really well with it...he still had some symptoms, but I could tell he was much more comfortable and looser.

I don't have any bupe experience either. But, it did take a couple weeks before we did start seeing results, so Adequan is another "patience pants" situation. Once he was over the loading dose, though, we could see improvement within a couple hours of doing his maintenance injections.

I hope that migraine stays at bay. Have a great day, Lauren!

Re: 2/28 Tommy AMPS 199 1.R, +2 200 Adequan questions please

Our loading schedule was similar and Buster now gets Adequan injections every other week. We haven't made it to once a month and I don't know that we will. I shoot in the scruff in between injection times/mid-cycle. I don't think it matters if you give it at the same time as the insulin. We use the bigger needles, and they do seem HUUGE in comparison to the insulin needles. Thankfully, Buster doesn't notice cause I just poke him while he's eating a yummy treat. I think it helps. I am thinking of trying some Cosequin on top of it, you can do that, too.

Re: 2/28 Tommy AMPS 199 1.R, +2 200 Adequan questions please

We do the adequan and the bupe.

I use the insulin needles for the adequan because the needle isn't near as ouchy.... ( according to shadow)
She did not like the big harpoon needles the vet gave us. They seemed really dull in comparision. Dyana (and J.D.) also uses the insulin needles. She 's the one who told me.
I just inject slowly in the scruff area since the syringe is almost full using the smaller syringes.

I am on a every 3 week schedule with the adequan.... that is because she won't make it 4 weeks... it is an ECID thing.
and she gets the tiniest dose of bupe every night 0.1ml which has also made a difference.


I would continue the bupe while you are waiting for the adequan to kick in. And then decide if it's still needed.

Re: 2/28 Tommy AMPS 199 1.R, +2 200 Adequan questions please

Nice start today Tommy! I hope you beat that headache Lauren.

Neko gets cartrophen, sort of the Canadian equivalent to Adequan. I didn't do the same loading as you but Rachel/Chyna did. I think it's kind of a each vet is different. I don't get vials of cartrophen so I have to follow when the vet gives me preloaded syringes. Apparently cartrophen vials have a much shorter shelf life than Adequan so aren't cost effective to buy. I do use the bigger needles. I did try transferring it to the insulin syringe, but her dose made the syringe almost full and awkward to use so now I stick to the bigger needles. I shoot it in the scruff whereas Neko gets insulin on the sides/shoulders. The vet gave Neko her first cartrophen in the scruff too. Like Tara, I also shoot it mid day.

I'm doing both bupe and cartrophen. I started with just cartrophen and saw some improvement and more when I added the bupe. I always worry about the possible headaches acros can get, so the bupe might help with more than just the arthritis pain.

Re: 2/28 Tommy AMPS 199 1.R, +2 200 Adequan questions please

Hi Lauren, I'm so happy you have the Adequan on order and that I could help . Chyna did get the same loading dose (for the cartrophen) as Wendy mentioned. We did the twice a week, just finished the once a week and are now going to the once every two weeks, then I'm not sure. I guess as needed!

I have to get the filled syringes from my vet and they calculated the amount given per syringe by her weight, but I swap the monoject harpoon needle tip out for a Terumo 21g that I use for subqs and I try to do the injection on my lunch break just because I don't like poking her so many times in a row :shock: . I guess this doesn't help you with Adequan but it's similar...

I hope that you don't get too much of the white stuff! Blech. Have a great Friday :razz:

Re: 2/28 Tommy AMPS 199 1.R, +2 200 Adequan questions please

Thank you Amy,Tara,Rhiannon, Wendy and Rachel for the insight and advice about the Adequan. I'm getting nervous, I hope my expectations aren't too high for this to do "miracles". I would be thrilled beyond imagination if his limping would subside even a little.
By the way as i'm typing this I have my 16yr old ginger kitty Belle wrapped around my shoulders just purring away like she doesn't have a care in the world. It's quite therapeutic.
With Tommy weighing 12 lbs I believe he is to get 24U with the insulin syringe that I use. I also use them for his B12 injections and it seems to work just fine. We'll see.
I hope you all are having a happy Friday!

My heart is still hurting at the loss of Pepper and my prayers are with Nancy as she tries to make sense of it all and begins to heal. I know it's gonna take time. Make sure you hold tight to your babies and let them know how special they are each and every day..

Re: 2/28 Tommy PMPS 326

our acro babies seem so precious and maybe more fragile, don't they? i'm feeling the loss of pepper too. :cry:

i used the regular insulin syringes with punkin's adequan - we accidentally gave him a double dose (2x20u) one time and it seemed to help more, so after looking online re dosing, we moved to 30u and stuck with it. the dosing doesn't seem to be very exact on it, ie, it's like a supplement rather than a drug-drug. punkin was 12-14lbs when he was getting it. it does fill the syringe, but it didn't bother me. i think we shot it at +3, if he was getting fluids then, we added it to the fluids tube. if not, we just shot it. same thing with the Vit B12, if you end up giving that. that does give a boost to senior kitties, so if you were interested, you could ask the vet about it.

i'd keep giving the bupe forever. he liked his drugs and i wanted punkin to be happy. ;-) anything for our furbabies, you know!

hope your migraine went away without manifesting. i don't have migraines but i do get the auras (ocular migraines) and am having one right now. it's a little bit hard to read at the moment, but there is a nice ribbon of rainbow over the right side of your post. :lol: